Toronto’s UforChange is Named Among Recipients of Gucci’s Inaugural Changemakers Impact Fund

by Pahull Bains January 27, 2020

Back in October, Gucci began accepting applications for its inaugural Changemakers Impact Fund. Created in response to the backlash it received for releasing a sweater that featured blackface imagery, this initiative was built with the aim to promote inclusivity and social impact in various communities across North America.

Fast forward a few months and Gucci has revealed the 16 non-profit organizations chosen to be the 2020 recipients of the Gucci North America Changemakers Impact Fund. Spanning 12 cities, the 16 organizations “specialize in broadening diversity and social impact in such areas as arts and culture, social justice and equity and education,” according to Women’s Wear Daily. Gucci has pledged to direct funds worth $1 million towards this grant each year, with each of the 16 nonprofits receiving up to $50,000 for a one-year funding cycle beginning January 1.

12 “Changemaker Cities”—including Toronto—were identified at the beginning of the process, to which special consideration would be given during the application process. Toronto’s UforChange, whose mission is to “mentor young people in the pursuit of their artistic and aspirational passions in an inclusive community,” has been selected as one of the inaugural winners.

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Thank you to everyone that came out to support UforChange's Graphic Design and Web Development program for female-identifying young people. Together we can support more womxn entering the field of STEM. Shout out to @tonicaterdesigns and @jalal.n for being phenomenal Artist Mentors doing amazing work in their field. All of this would not be possible without the generous support of @ontrillium. _ #uforchange #toronto #youth #arts #tech #womxn #webdevelopment #graphicdesign #coding #css #html #javascript #illustrator #photoshop #indesign #6ix

A post shared by UforChange (@uforchange) on Oct 25, 2019 at 8:02am PDT

Other awardees this year include the Black AIDS Institute in Los Angeles, the ACLU of Louisiana in New Orleans, the National Youth Foundation in Philadelphia, Design Core in Detroit and Thurgood Marshall College Fund of Washington, D.C.

“Change does not happen in theory, it happens in community,” Cleo Wade, one of the Changemakers Council co-chairs (a group of social change experts and community leaders assembled by Gucci), said last year. “We are bringing the Gucci Changemakers initiative to life by bringing not only funds, but also time, energy, and care to communities that have been historically and systemically under resourced and overlooked for too long.”

In addition to the Impact Fund, Gucci has also pledged to distribute $1.5M over four years across two scholarship programs—Gucci Changemakers Scholars and Gucci Changemakers X CFDA Scholars by Design—to ensure a new era of diverse young people can gain access to the fashion industry. Find out more here.

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